Before joining the Wildlife Center in August, I was definitely more of a “reptile person”. I love snakes and turtles and lizards, and I have had plenty of experience handling and caring for reptiles.
The end of 2012 also marks the end of my first year of volunteering on the “treatment team” at The Wildlife Center.
The past year has been filled with many incredible memories – and most of them have included the online community.
Looking back, I can admit now and even laugh a little about how terrified I used to be of Virginia Opossums.
Early in 2012, we admitted three nestling Great Horned Owls. While it was a pleasure to care for all three, GHOW #12-0317 was definitely the most memorable to me.
Miss Raulerson's third-grade class is one of our "Cam in the Classroom" classes. Miss Raulerson recently shared this writing assignment with us.
On our latest reading test, the students were supposed to write a persuasive letter to me about a place that would be a good field trip. I thought you might like to read this one from Faith:
A couple of months ago, I got an email from Nicci Wright, wildlife rehabilitation manager of FreeMe Wildlife Rehabilitation, in Johannesburg, South Africa. She said that the organization, which treats over 10,000 wild animals each year, has been in existence for 15 years. Yet, FreeMe was struggling to break out of its old ways of doing things and move toward the next level of excellence in both its wildlife care and its public education programs. However, they did not know how to start.
As I enjoy my last few days of anonymity, I am reflecting on just what led EN/CN to donate thousands of their hard earned dollars to the Wildlife Center of Virginia in the GN Reveal/Monkey Business campaign.
My conclusion is that it had very little to do with either GN or the imaginary monkey. It had everything to do with the generosity of an online "family" and the trust they place in the Center and the vision Ed Clark had 30 years ago.
We arrived at Zoar State Forest and were a little early, so we stood around for a bit, while everyone who wanted to see the release arrived. Once everyone was present, Wildlife Center President Ed Clark drove his truck out into the middle of an old cornfield owned by the forestry department, and opened the back of the truck. Ed then gave us some information on how the Wildlife Center was started, some of the work done at the Center, and where this Bald Eagle was rescued.
Editor’s note: The Wildlife Center features many patient stories in the “Critter Corner” portion of the website – but these are only a few of the thousands of cases the Wildlife Center treats each year. Each animal has its own unique story, and this story is one of a Mallard duck with which animal care volunteer Carol was particularly involved! After she excitedly shared her release story with us last week, we asked her to write our next blog entry!
See who is currently featured on the Center's Critter Cams!